While this CI course is officially titled "Landscape Ecology of Appalachia," we're going to be focused a bit more broadly on the relationship between landscapes and the ecology of amphibians across the Carolinas.
The influence of land use disturbance on stream salamanders
We know that activities such as building cities or harvesting timber can influence the streams that drain lands where the disturbance occurred. We also know that some species can tolerate these disturbance better than others, and that the influence of the disturbance changes over time. How long after a watershed is urbanized do stream salamanders show a negative response? Do older neighborhoods have more stable populations? Does disturbance from urbanization have the same influence on stream salamanders as disturbance from forestry practices? We will collect field data to test these questions and others.
Class syllabus
Project lead: Dr. Kyle Barrett
Others involved: Nathan Weaver (The influence of land use disturbance on stream salamanders)